Written by Boubacar Diallo, CorpsAfrica/Senegal Volunteer​​From Friday, September 16 to Sunday the 18, the village youth grouped together as part of the l’Association Socio-culturelle pour l’Unionet la Solidarité des Jeunes de Ndieulbert (ASCUS-JN) to organize the Sixth Edition of the 72H of Cultural Days and Human Investment.The aim of the association, per its president M. Modou Babou, is "to unite the participants by the same ideals and to create bonds of solidarity between them; To contribute to the social emancipation and civic education of the population. We organize each year the 72 hours of cultural activities of the village. We would like to focus on some of the biggest challenges for us and request you as a collaborator of this 6th edition which will be held from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 in Ndieulbert. Indeed, our association in recent years has mainly carried out social projects, including young people (adolescents, young adults) and those older (between fifty and seventy years). "It is in this spirit that CorpsAfrica has given its support for planting fruit trees for all the houses of the village with the aim "a house, two fruit trees". Fruit trees are nearly non-existent in this area. Thus, we have introduced a dozen varieties of fruit trees (mangoes, sapoti, Carasolles, Kanel apples, Gola, pomegranate, avocado, etc.) with 154 plants.

​Through this activity, CorpsAfrica encouraged this dynamic youth, committed to serving their community and promoting endogenous development.Before we started the tree planting, we went to visit the village chief and the Imam. They welcomed the commitment and participation of Ndieulbert's youth and thanked me and the CorpsAfrica delegation for their work in the village. The Imam prayed for the success of our activities.The tree planting took place on Saturday with a strong participation of the youth and a strong determination of the girls of the village.

​We went door-to-door to educate the population about the importance of fruit trees before showing them the techniques of tree planting and giving them two plants per house.The distribution of trees was a very rich moment of solidarity and unity. The families welcomed us with great joy and the children were all happy to accompany us.

​After planting the trees, we attended the official ceremony in the afternoon; A solemn moment for the inhabitants of Ndieulbert. The ceremony began with the speech of village chief Bada Diouf delivered by his spokesperson, the great griot of the village, Uncle Mademba DIOUF. He thanked the guests, magnified the work of CorpsAfrica in the village and congratulated the young people of Ndieulbert while inviting them to perpetuate this action of union and solidarity for the development of the village.After the list of speakers followed Modou Babou, the youth President (ASCUS-JN), Mrs. Dior FALL, President of the GIE of the women, Mr. Assane Dièye Representative of the Director of the school and more.CorpsAfrica took the opportunity to address the community of Ndieulbert who unconditionally accepted and welcomed me. I took the opportunity to thank all the people of Ndieulbert for their collaboration and the many good things we shared together. I then thanked my host family, my mom Dior FALL, my dad Ndiaga Fall and all my brothers and sisters in the house.

​The 72H of Ndieulbert were moments of reunion, solidarity, dialogue, sharing, exchange and entertainment. Indeed, the event brought together all young people, notables and women to value cultural heritages, pay tribute to the ancestors, and exchange the village's development needs.Finally, I would like to thank the Volunteers and CorpsAfrica staff for their support. Special thanks to the CorpsAfrica Director Mr. Mamadou SARR who helped us in the choice of fruit trees. I would like to also deeply thank the team who came on this trip, Mr Lamine KOUYATE, Mr Chérif HOURY, Mrs DIOP, Ndèye Awa GUEYE and my dear friend Ahmeth NDOYE.

Written by Boubacar Diallo, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Senegal ​​Baba Garage is located in the Diourbel region in central Senegal, 120 km east of Dakar and in the department of Bambey. This rural community of about 2000 inhabitants became a town since March 2014 with the introduction of the Act III of decentralization, creating new municipality districts. Baba Garage has 52 villages over an area of ​​156 km² with 53.3% women.Ndieulbert is a village in the municipality district of Baba Garage. According to legend, it was founded in 1864 by Yacine Diouf Deguène Kafa, son of the famous king of Sine Coumba DIOUF Ndofène.Etymologically, the name comes Ndieulbert from two Wolof words (NJËLU which means dawn) and (BEER is the name of the old village plant, one that people came to gather at dawn). It is in this beautiful village we visited the brave women who do embroidery by hand.After hours of discussion about their activities, we conducted video interviews in Wolof with Ms. Sai KAMA and Aminata MBOW

Interview 1: With Mrs. SAÏ KAMA

​“ Assalamou alaykoum,We extend our greetings and thank you so much, Boubacar.Since your arrival in our village you’re fulfilling your duty, you often visit us and asking us about our needs concerning our activities.My name is SAÏ Kama, I live in Ndieulbert, I do embroidery by hand using traditional technics and I need support. I have 10 years of experience with this job, and make a variety of things such as bed sheets, clothes for men and women. As for bed sheets I spend from about 7000 to 7500 CFA and sell them for 10000 CFA, with a profit of 2500 to 3000 CFA. My main difficulty is marketing and selling our products, because I sometimes make so many things and just store them here because I have nowhere to sell them. We are soliciting you to help us get sewing materials and sale agents because we are really tired (laughs). Once again, we thank Boubacar and count on you! "

Interview 2: With Mrs Ami MBOW

​“Assalamou alaykoum,I, Ami MBOW, greet you Boubacar and you, his supervisors who assigned him here in our village, because we know that he comes from very far, Casamance, to support us in our activities. He is a very respectful boy and does his job well, so thank you very much.We’ve been doing embroidery by hand for 10 years now but commercialization is our primary need. We make dresses, clothes, bed linens, and more. This job is a tradition in my family. We sell large “boubou” at 15000 CFA, dresses at 10000 CFA. We buy the files and sewing needles. Our concern is not having the market where we could sell the fabric that we make, and sellers who would purchase our products. This is why we ask for your help and we thank you very much. "

With the students from Ndieulbert primary school, we did lots of exciting activities this month.Like the international community, we celebrated the International Day of the Environment on June 5th. With students from Ndieulbert, we held a reforestation session in the primary school courtyard. We replanted some “Jatropha curcas” or “tabanani” in Wolof. This plant can be used for "bio-diesel".​In the village, the children are at the heart of our activities. They are our first partners. The majority of them are students in the village primary school.

​The history of the school of Ndieulbert

Ndieulbert primary school was created in October 1996 with one single classroom made of straw (temporary) by the population. The first teacher of the village is Mr. BA and he was in the village for 5 years, from 1996 to 2001. It was in 2000 that a Canadian cooperation came to assist the village by building two classrooms and health centers. In 2001, a third room is built by "World Vision" which also they also enclosed by a fence (1000 m²) in 2008. In 2009, the rural community of Baba Garage has built two new rooms so that the school has now five classrooms and is located at the entrance of the village. It is composed of four teachers at the moment: the school director Mr. DIAW teaches (CM2), Mr. DIEYE (CM1), Mr. FALL (CP and CE1) and Mr. Badiane (CE2 and CI).Ndieulbert primary school is not enclosed at this time because the fence which was done by World Vision in 2008 no longer holds. Therefore, the animals enter from everywhere. Students are not safe and the trees planted in the course are threatened.A good fence for the school is the fundamental need expressed by the community. I will implement a project in this area next month insha-Allah.​

This month, we went to visit the farming fields of Pape Diagne, and old photographer who has traveled to several African countries like the Ivory Coast, for years. He decided to return to his native village "NDieulbert" to live with his community and participate in its development. He farms during each season and this is his main source of income.

"My name is Pape Diagne, I am a farmer and I live in the village of Ndieulbert. I have been farming since 1996. I started by digging a well and searching for materials for work with my own means. After four years I encountered enormous difficulty and I abandoned the work because production was low. It was in 2003 that I started farming with the support of UNDP (United Nations Development Program) which was passing through the area and saw the diversity of trees that I planted. The head of the program said, "Whoever did these plantations, if he has the support he will work." Thus UNDP funded the municipality to provide me with a wire fence and free water access and since then I grow produce during all seasons. I can say that out of the 12 months of the year, I live on agriculture and farming on 11 of them. For over 10 years now, I have not set a foot in Dakar. I work every day in my field and live well through my work without asking anyone. "

How do you see agriculture in this area?Agriculture works in the village because the soil is very rich but it is the lack of means that is the issue. Farming requires a fence, good plowing of the field, and water retention for a good results. That is why he who does not have enough resources or support will not be able to gain much.

Where do you market your products?We sell our product in the weekly markets of Baba Garage and Touba Toul.​Are you able to make a profit?I do not produce much but I thank God because I always earn some profits. My field covers 2 hectares but as you saw I was only able to enclose a few meters (with my own means). So I do have land but it is the lack of resources that prevents me to use all of the space. If I had a good fence, I would have planted all kinds of produce in the field and I would have gained a lot more money to employ other young people to work.

​Is this field owned by you or does it belong to an economic interest grouping (GIE)?This field belongs to me personally. When the municipality has issued it to me, I created a GIE with some friends called "GIE Jappo ligguèy" which means (GIE Solidarity labor) in 1996. At the time I had noticed that all NGOs only supported associations, they did not think to encourage entrepreneurs. That is why I had formed GIE, thinking that I would be with people who share the same vision as me to work together. But due to the fact that they realized that there was not a good yield yet in the fields, they did not see the value of working here, but that didn’t prevent me from continuing the work alone.

What are your real needs?My main need is a fence. As I mentioned, it is UNDP that helped me enclose my land with a fence but they went through the municipality. Municipal authorities have not done such a great job but I cannot help it because UNDP did not deal directly with me, they didn’t even meet with me once to discuss with me. I take this opportunity to point out to NGOs and development partners their need to discuss with and involve the main beneficiaries before financing, and if they fund a project to follow up to see if the job was well done but also if the recipient continued to work regularly.​Do you have any information to give us?I would like to thank you Mr. Diallo for the work that you do. Since you came to this village you have been listening to the people and you often come watch how I work here and the difficulties that I encounter. Today, despite the heat, you still came back. I can only pray for you and your organization, CorpsAfrica. I am very happy with your work and thank you infinitely. May God assist you and protect you. "Amen !!! ".​

Playing with small children is my passion. My first activity this month was to entertain myself with the children of the village in teaching them educational songs that my mom, responsible for the community daycare "Jaam ak Salaam de Nema II" in Ziguinchor, had taught me.I started with a group of five children 3 to 4 years old.I would say here are my first students and my best friends in the village. After two days of educational activities, the group was strengthened with the participation of their brother and sister students in primary school.

From left to right: Mame, Mame seynabou, Rama, Khady et Modou

​Before the end of the week, all of the children in the village (students or not) came to tell me "uncle Boubacar we want to learn today too!"Sometimes, when their parents would pass me they would say, “Boubacar, these children are wearing you down every day," Smiling, I reply that no, I actually love playing with them. I spend great times with these children and it is with great pleasure that I contribute to their intellectual development.

​These children, I love them. They are great and I have hope that they will be very useful towards the development of their community and country.

Without foreshadowing, I see future CorpsAfrica Volunteers before me. I would like then to share with you this little song to remember the seven days of the week.

My name is Boubacar Biro Diallo, I am 25 years old, and I am originally from Zinguinchor, southern Senegal. I have a degree in Sociology from the University Assane Seck of Zinguinchor. I have acquired lots of experience in the field of community service, such as when I organized many activities for the benefit of different communities in partnership with ChildFund Senegal, UNICEF, and the World Food Program (WFP).Since March 11th, 2016, I am based in the commune of Baba Garage where I am serving as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Senegal.

​ Located in central Senegal and East of Dakar, Baba Garage is in the Diourbel region and in the department of Bambey. In March 2014, Baba Garage, then a village of 1900 inhabitants, was established a commune as part of the implementation of Act III of the decentralization policy of the government of Senegal with the creation of district municipalities.Baba Garage covers an area of 156 km² and is a cluster of 52 villages with 16,000 inhabitants (out of which 53% are female inhabitants).

I spent the first week at my site mostly observing and meeting with a local women’s association whose activities focus on the transformation of local products. Although there are no paved roads in Baba Garage, it is an intersection of two roads, namely the axes North-South and East-West, thus its nickname of “cross road village”. The commune of Baba Garage also has five other unpaved roads that make the area more accessible.

The major ethnic groups include Wolof, Serere and Poular and most of them practice Islam. Agriculture, farming, small business ownership and artisanal craftsmanship are the main economic activities of the village.Below is is a group of women I met at center of Madame Diop who produce soap out of natural plans like the leaves of lemon trees.

​With this brief description of my site, I would like to welcome you all to my CorpsAfrica Blog.